Druid Atticus O’Sullivan hasn’t stayed alive for more than two millennia without a fair bit of Celtic cunning. So when vengeful thunder gods come Norse by Southwest looking for payback, Atticus, with a little help from the Navajo trickster god Coyote, lets them think that they’ve chopped up his body in the Arizona desert.

But the mischievous Coyote is not above a little sleight of paw, and Atticus soon finds that he’s been duped into battling bloodthirsty desert shapeshifters called skinwalkers. Just when the Druid thinks he’s got a handle on all the duplicity, betrayal comes from an unlikely source. If Atticus survives this time, he vows he won’t be fooled again. Famous last words.

REVIEW

This has to be my favourite book of the series so far and it's the first one I've wanted to give all five stars to.

You see, I've loved everything about the series prior to this book apart from one teeny tiny thing, which was that I didn't feel the main character, Atticus, had enough inter-character relationships. At least, nothing stronger than an acquaintance or a business relationship. And I felt that, had that been there, it would have given me something to connect with and follow as an ongoing development in amongst all the other general badassery that the books are jam-packed with. The only person Atticus really gave two hoots about up until now, as far as I could tell, was his hound Oberon. But in this instalment we have a developing friendship, a teacher-student relationship, a cute bit of flirting and also a betrayal that really added that bit of personal drama I'd been looking for previously.

Now onto the rest of the badassery I mentioned. This time, the mythology was mostly Native American in origin. Atticus has called in Coyote to help him stage his own death so that he might be able to stay in one place long enough to train Granuaille in her Druidry in relative peace. It's always easier to concentrate on a chemistry lesson when you don't have someone trying to take your head off, after all. Of course, Coyote, being the little trickster deity that he is, wanted something in return. That's how these things generally work. And so begins the part where it all goes to hell in a handbasket.

I really loved the plot for TRICKED. I thought it had excellent pacing, the mythology was interesting, the action scenes were exciting and, of course, there were some hilarious dialogue passages thrown in there for good measure.

And this time, not only were Atticus and Oberon hilarious together, but Granuaille can hold her own in the conversations too! She had a couple of great lines. There was an ongoing point-scoring game that carried on throughout most of the book which provided many laugh-out-loud moments. A favourite quote from that game between Atticus and Oberon was:

"Heh. I think you made your point, Atticus."

"Gods Below, Oberon, that was horrendous! You just violated the Schwarzenegger Pun Reduction Treaty of 2010."

"What? No, that didn't qualify!"

"Yes, it did. Any pun related to a weapon's destructive capabilities or final disposition of a victim's body is a Schwarzenegger pun, by definition. That's negative twenty sausages according to the sanctions outlined in Section Four, Paragraph Two."

"You can't argue with this. Your pawprint is on the treaty, and you agreed that Schwarzenegger puns are heinous abominations of language that deserve food-related punishments for purposes of correction and deterrence."

"Auggh! I still say it's your fault for renting Commando in the first place! You started it!"

As with the rest of the series, I listened to it in audiobook format. There aren't many series that I would honestly rather listen to than read, but this is definitely one of them. Luke Daniels is a narrating genius, and he really upped my enjoyment level. I don't know, if I'd have read them myself, that Oberon would have been quite as funny to me as he is, but the voice Daniels uses for him is so incredibly perfect and hound-like and just adorably enthusiastic- exactly as you'd expect a mind-speaking dog to be- that it just makes it a delightfully enjoyable and entertaining experience.

There was an excerpt at the end from the next book, Trapped, which I am now VERY excited to read to see how my new favourite UF trio are faring.

Well done Mr. Hearne. Another excellent instalment. Go and have a nice cup of tea, you deserve it.

5 Stars! ★★★★★
Review Copy: Received from the publisher for an honest review.